Refrigerator



(No Mp'del.)

c. W. TROTTBR.

REFRIGERATOR.

Patented Aug. 5, 1890e wijf/Wemag UNITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

CHARLES W. T ROTTER, OF ROCHESTER, NEV YORK.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,606, dated August5, 1890.

Application led March 4, 1890. Serial No. 342,624. (No model.)

Toda/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. TRoTrER, of the city of Rochester, countyof Monroe, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refrigerators; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings,formiug a part of this specication, andto the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

My present invention has for its object to provide an improved ice boxorrcceptacle for refrigerators and refrigerating-rooms which will notonly prevent the objectionable feature of causing a deposit of moistureon the walls of the ice or provision chamber,but will provide for amorethorough and rapid circulation, causing the contents of theprovisionchamber to remain cooler and drier than in those now in use.

To these ends the invention consists in providing an ice-receptacle thatwill permit a free circulation of air, 'receiving it from any part ofthe chamber and discharging it at the portion maintained at the lowesttemperature.

It further consists in certain improved constructions whereby theair-circulating passages and all the parts can be readily cleansed whendesired, thereby preventing accumulations of foul slime and dirt usuallypresent in large refrigerators that cannot readily be cleaned.-

lIt further consists in certain novelties of construction andcombination of parts, all as will be hereinafter described, and thenovel features pointed out in the claims at the end of thisspecification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective sectional view showing theapplication of my improved ice-receptacle, part of the latter beingbroken away for convenience of illustration. Fig. 2 is a top plan viewof the ice-receptacle detached; Fig. 3, a sectional view on the line xof Fig. 2; Figa, a view of a modiication.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate similarparts.

The chamber lettered A in the drawings,

in which the provisions or articles to be kept cool are located, maybebfany desired shape, and may or may not be provided with shelves B, andthe ice-chamber may be located at any desired part, apertures being leftat the top and bottom of partition D, communicating with theprovision-chambers, as usual, so as to afford a free circulation of air,thereby keeping the articles dry and cold. It is always desirable inrefrigerators to deliver the air from the coldest part of the ice-boxand to provide meansfor readily conductingwarm air from any portion ofthe ice-chamber to this part, thereby keeping up a more rapidcirculation of dry air and obviating the necessity` of the air from allparts of the chamber following a certain speciiied course and beingdischarged at the same point irrespective of the relative frigidity ofother places. In carrying out this feature in my present construction Ipropose to form a series of air-channels, into which air from the top ofthe chamber, or even from a lower level in the chamber, will be drawnand discharged at the coldest point, and to this end construct theice-support hollow with numerous discharge-apertures and connect with itsaid series of channels.

In the drawings I have shown an ice-receptacle made of metal pipe, whichis not only cheap, but very serviceable. The lower part of this chamberI prefer to construct of a frame, rectangular in the present instance,formed with iron pipe, with coupling-pieces E at the corners, the twoend pieces of this frame being connected by longitudinally-extendingpipes F, each provided on its under side with a series of apertures,preferably having nipples c screwed therein, and said frame orreceptacle rests upon cleats h in the casing. The sides of theice-receptacle also I prefer to form of vertical channels,such as pipesG, their lower ends being reduced and entering the frame E, and for thepurpose of holding these pipes in place they may be vconnected at ornear their upper ends by means of a band or connectingpiece Il, asshown, which band or a similar one may be provided around any openingsthat may be formed in the side of the chamber to hold the free andunsupported ends of any of the pipes. The

upper ends of the pipes are preferably open IOO and their inner sidesare provided with a series of apertures into which are screwed nipplesg, preferably projecting slightly downward, said nipples serving toprevent the ice in the chamber from coming into direct contact with thepipes and causing condensation of moisture on the inside thereof, andalso preventing the apertures being covered by the ice. The side pipesare preferably not secured rigidly to the base-frame E, but their lowerends rest loosely in them, as shown, for convenience of construction andcleansing.

The ice may be deposited in the ice-chamber either from the top or asuitable aperture provided at the side, as desired, but in any eventrests upon the pipes F, constituting the bottom, or their equivalent, ahollow chamber, and in consequence renders them very cold, and as theyare in communication with the pipes at the sides, and the latter areopen at the top and also on their inner sides, the warmer air comingover from the provision-chamber will be drawn in them from all parts'lof the chamber and discharged through pipes F at the bottom at thecoldest point, whichever part of the ice-chamber this may be. The cooledair is drawn into the provision-chamber again below partition D,abstracts the heat from the provisions, and, ascending, comes into theice-chamber again, and so a continuous circulation is kept up.

While it is eminently desirable that the ice-chamber or ice-containingreceptacle bel made of pipes, as shown, it is not essential that this bedone, as the broad idea is to have a series of air-conducting channelscapable of being directly cooled at one or more points, from which theair can be discharged, and arranged to draw air from all or nearly allparts without obstruction, making the circulation much more rapid, andconsequently keeping the provisions colder and drier.

By making the bottom of the receptacle of pipes, as shown, a goodsupport for the ice is provided, from which the water can drip onto thefloor of the chamber, and if the pipes are extended lengthwise from thedoor affording access to the ice-receptacle they form good ways on whichto slide large pieces into place, rendering their movement easier.

The sides of the ice-receptacle being composed of pipes, they directlyconvey the air to the coldest place and the nipples prevent the icecoming into contact with their sides, which otherwise might causecondensation inside of them, a very undesirable feature in arefrigerator, the primary object being to have a rapid circulation ofdrying air.

It is desirable that the nipples or openings in the side pipes, as wellas the bottom ones, be as large as possible, so that a free circulationmay be had, and in order to provide for this I sometimes form the sidepipes, and the bottom ones as well, of ordinary pipe T-couplings withnipples between them, as shown in Fig. 4, the principal objection tothis form being that it is a little more expensive to construct; but forsmall boxes it might be used to good advantage;

The ice-receptacle and all the air-passages can be readily cleansed whendesired, either by removing it and connecting one of the pipes with awater-supply, washing them all out thoroughly, or by following the samecourse while the receptacle is in the 'main casing.

The water from the melted ice in the construction shown falls upon thebottom of the refrigerator or chamber (a rib or projection C preventingits entrance to the provision-chamber) and thence through a suitabletrap to the outside. This trap I prefer to construct as in Fig. l,theexit-pipe being provided with a vertical extension d, over which ts acover or bell f, provided with a handle g', though it will be understoodthat any other form of trap would answer.

Numerous other modifications could readily be made without departingfrom the spirit of my invention; and I do not therefore desire to beconfined to the precise construction shown, as the improvements could beapplied to refrigerator-boxes, rooms, houses, cars, or other placeswhere necessary.-

It is not essential that the features of the herein described inventionbe applied eX- clusively to a chamber adapted to contain ice, as anyother suitable refrigerating material could as well be employed, andtheterm icesupport is employed in the claim with this understanding.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an ice support or chamber forrefrigerators, a hollow base and discharge-apertures therein, incombination with a series of vertical air-channels constituting thesidesopening into the ice-chamber and communi- IOO eating wit-h theinterior of the base, substantially as described.

2. In an ice support or chamber for refrigerators, a lhollow base withthe apertures therein, in combination with a series of verticalair-channels constituting the sides having apertures in different planesand com'- municatin g with the interior of the base, substantiallyasdescribed.

3. In an ice support or' chamber for refrigerators, the base composed ofa series of tubes having discharge-apertures, in combination with thesides composed of vertical air-channels having openings in differentplanes and communicating with the base, substantially as described.

4E. In an ice support or chamber for refrigerators, the combination,withthe hollow base, of a series of vertical pipes composing the sides,having the hollow nipples on their inner sides and communicating withthe base, substantially as described.

5. In an ice support or chamber for refrigerators, the combination, withthe base con in the upper side and a series of transverse pipes havingapertures in their lower sides, of the sides composed of the series ofvertical pipes having the apertures and resting in the apertures in theframe, substantially as described.

7. In an ice support or chamber, the combination, with the base composedof tubes provided With discharge-apertures, of the sides composed ofhollow tubes opening into the chamber at the top and communicating with2o the base, substantially as described.

GHAS. W. TROTTER.

Witnesses:

FRED F. CHURCH, S. E. TRUE.

